On the Links

• Celebrate Recovery Summit 2010
  Join us for the Summit in August. Registration Deadline -- July 31, 2010
• Tim Webster: Three ways Celebrate Recovery impacted our church for the better
  Celebrate Recovery became a major life-changing agent for our congregation. There are three changes in particular it brought about in our fellowship.
• Carlos Whittaker: Ragamuffin Soul Blog
  Carlos blogs about the question: What was your relationship with the Church like when it was at its worst? Interesting responses …
• David Jeremiah: Rock or sand?
  Jesus stresses the importance of our inward vs. outward relationship with God. Inward godliness is evidenced by humility, uprightness, mercy, purity of heart -- doing the will of God.
• Brian D. McLaren: The Ethical Responsibility of Engineers -- And Those Who Pastor Them
  McLaren writes, “Could I suggest that the West Virginia Massey coal mining disaster and the BP oil rig explosion are a reflection not just of the dysfunctionalities of extractive industries, but also of the dysfunctionalities of popular American Christianity?”
• Language and the pulpit ministry
  The Baptist Messenger asks whether a general degradation in language has negatively impacted preaching ministries – and it offers five ways you can reverse the trend.
• The Internet can make or break a brand in China
  Far more people in China use the web to help decide what to buy than in the west. Online buzz has the power to build up -- or significantly damage -- a brand very quickly. Social media channels are used extensively.
• Chinese: 70% of Leisure Time Spent on the Internet
  People in the 60 largest cities in China spend around 70 percent of their leisure time on the Internet, according to a 2009 survey.
• Pastor compensation keeps up with inflation
  Compensation, at least for full-time Southern Baptist pastors, is rising slightly faster than inflation, but the mounting cost of benefits is forcing churches to provide fewer pastors with medical insurance.

Book Look

• Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy
  by Dev Patnaik
  “… As companies grow larger and more prosperous, they start to look less and less like their customers.” Replace the word “companies” with “churches” and, as you read this book, you’ll see the importance of learning about and understanding the people in your community whom you’re trying to reach.

Bible Bytes

• “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.”
  
  Romans 5:1-2 (NLT)

Notes & Quotes

• Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
  British scientists claim to have solved the mystery
• A study by Dr. Richard Tunney of the University of Nottingham’s School of Psychology in England showed that reading a good book, listening to music, and enjoying a glass of wine contributed more to the happiness of lottery winners than purchasing flashy cars and diamond jewelry.  (Source: Happy: Simple Steps to Getting the Most Out of Life by Ian K. Smith, St. Martin’s Press, 2010)
• “The illiterate of the future are not those that cannot read or write. They are those that can not learn, unlearn, relearn.” -- Alvin Toffler
• “Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real.” – Thomas Merton
• “A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.” – Harry Truman
• A recent poll of 1,500 CEOs said that creativity was the number one “leadership “competency of the future.” (“Creativity Crisis,” by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman Newsweek, July 10, 2010